Tutoring Troubles
by always-a-hp-girl
Summary: Dramione fic. Chapter 1/3 so far.
1. Chapter 1

As Hermione levitated the last of her posters in the library, she was really hoping that someone would reply to her offer to tutor them for exams. She was willing to teach any subject, up to practice OWL exams, as she was already preparing for her own. The library was about to close, and she sighed as she made her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Truth be told, while studying with someone would be beneficial, she could really use the money, and the sooner the better

Draco had noticed Hermione putting up posters around the school for the past hour and couldn't help but find it slightly amusing. When noticing her on her way back to the Gryffindor common room, he thought he'd have a little fun. "Not had enough time making yourself feel smarter than others, granger?" He called after her, the smile lingering on his lips

Hermione swiveled on the spot upon hearing her name, but immediately regretted it. She started to turn away without saying anything, surely Draco Malfoy would know nor care about her money issues, with his royalties and parents sending him anything he desired as fast his owl could deliver it.

"Going to ignore me now?" He asked, walking towards her while his grin played on his lips. "Now tell me, why do you want to tutor people? Isnt doing weasleys homework enough for you?"

 **"** If you're not going to inquire about the service, just walk away, Malfoy." She said, an exasperated tone to her voice. She really had quite enough to deal with to put up with him, on top of it all.

He couldnt help but laugh. "And how would i inquire?" He asked, his tone quite jokey still

She turned around. "Do you need help in any subject, advancing from first year to OWL-level?" She asked in a curt fashion.

"I might do. I'm more interested in how i would ask for your... Help" he said simply, hiding the fact that he was honestly asking instead of annoying her

"It's tutoring, Malfoy. I'm not going to complete your assignments for you." she answered point-blank, assuming that's what he'd want

Nevermind then" he shrugged, walking away from her. "Good luck getting clients" he said over his shoulder as he heads towards the dungeons

The next day in potions, Draco sat with his head quite low as he struggled to get the instructions to work with what was happening in his cauldron. Snape has swept by the Gryffindor table giving his usual snide remarks to Harry and Ron, and kept silent at Hermione's cauldron, meaning he found nothing to criticize. "Just ignore it.." Hermione said softly to her friends as Snape walked on. After Draco himself received a disappointed look and a grunt off Snape, he walked away. Draco turned off his cauldron and sat in silence at the back of the room with his head on the table. As the bell rang, they started to pack up and Hermione, passing the Slytherin table, scrunched up her nose. Someone's potion had failed horribly, not that Snape would dare subtract points from his precious house. Draco waved his wand, quickly clearing the potion when seeing Hermione scrunch her nose. "Looking at something?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her She shook her head quickly. Now wasn't the time to instigate anything, right under Snape's nose. Even Harry and Ron knew better.

After about half an hour, an owl was sent off draco to find hermione at her dorm later that night. He didn't want people knowing he needed a bit of help from the gryffindor princess. "Meet me in the library at nine." Hermione read this over and over. She wasn't sure if it was a serious offer, or an attempt for someone to catch her out of bounds, after the library had closed. Only one way to find out. "Hey Harry..."

She stood in front of the library in Harry's invisibility cloak at 8:50. Either this person would show up, or they wouldn't. Draco entered the library at 8:55 and hung in the shadows as he looked around for hermione. Maybe she was coming. As students started to filter through the hallways back to their dorms the only one staying put was Draco Malfoy. She wasn't quick to trust it was him but as he, too, continued to stay he had just as much risk of getting caught. Taking off the cloak behind a pillar, Hermione emerged and walked towards him calmly. He raised an eyebrow as she approached him. "Nice to see that you came" he said simply, his eyes glided to her

"So you were the client, then?"

He gave a quick nod before moving to sit on a table near her. "Yes but before anything else, we need to talk conditions" he said firmly

"Yes, and somewhere more private."

"Where would be better for you?" He asked curiously. "Slytherin dorms?" He asked with a smug look

"Ha ha..." She led him to an abandoned classroom. He followed her silently, a grin playing on his lips as he noticed Hermione's unease to being out after hours.

"Firstly, how much does it cost for your silence to helping me and sneaking around so no one sees us together?" He asked bluntly, walking towards her.

"Technically, it wouldn't cost anything extra." she replied honestly. "What subject do you need help with?"

"Im not talking technically, think of it as compensation" he suggested, not letting her move on yet

"What I meant to say," she put it more plainly "is that I wasn't going to disclose anyone's information, anyway"

He rolled his eyes. "Is 30 Galleons a session enough?" He asked, sitting on the table and having hermione stand in front of him

She stared with her eyes as wide as the Galleons. "That's more than what I was going to charge, honestly."

"What's your rate?" He asked casually, knowing it won't make much difference to what he'll pay

"5 galleons per session" she replied honestly

He couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Because of your moral and that I'm going to have you sneaking round after hours with me and lie to your little friends about where you are, ill pay 30 a night" he said softly in her ear

"D-done"

He couldn't help but smirked at her stutter. "I think you noticed how badly im doing at potions this year so that's where im going to need your skills" he said simply, still whispering in her ear. "Do you have any rules?" He asked curiously

"Where exactly are you having trouble?" She raised her head up, opening the book

"You didnt answer my question. Are you sure thats wise not to have any rules of your own?" He asked playfully. "You never know what may happen"

"I'll let you know if I think of any." She replied curtly.

He shook his head and laughed. "Right, its not that um struggling but i cant seem to get the instructions to go from book to cauldron without messing up" he admitted.

"The application is the hardest part for sure, but with lots of concentration is it possible. Additionally, understanding the principles will serve you better than just following the instructions"

He gave her a curious look, running his hand through his hair. So where do you think we should start?" He asked, suddenly feeling more unsure and vulnerable infront of her than what he was comfortable with. She leafed until she reached the current chapter. "did you have difficulty understanding this?"

He glanced down at the page and frowned slightly, reading the instructions without saying anything to her. "Granger, im struggling in practical not theory" he pointed out. "Im fine with copying a text book"

"But that's my point, you have to understand it before you can apply it!"

"What are you talking about Granger"?" he sighed, his hand running through his hair. "So getting high marks on the essay isnt the right thing to do?"

"Not if you're just memorizing facts without any comprehension? what, do you think you'll spend the rest of your life just blindly following orders without understanding wh-" she cut herself off, and dropped her gaze back the book.

He placed his fingers under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. "Finish what you were saying" he said bluntly, staring her in the eyes

 **"** Look, we're not here to talk about what you're planning on doing after you leave school." She said equally as blunty

He rolled his eyes. "Never shy away from finishing your sentence. It annoys me far to quickly" he warned. "I'd rather you say it and tell me not to take notice instead of cutting yourself off" he said simply, still holding her chin

"And I'd rather we focused on the subject at hand." She said, moving her face back, out of his reach.

He nodded. "So what do you want me to do?" He asked, looking back at the book.

He sat there listening to her talk through everything to do with the potion. He stayed silent, trying to take in any and all details possible."Any questions?" she finally asked. He looked slightly overwhelmed and dropped his eyes to the book. "Errmm... " he started but trailed off

"Dont cut yourself off," she reminded him. "Look, if you do what we discussed, Snape should give you at least an acceptable, but if you keep practicing, it should go up to an E or maybe even an O by the end of term"

He nodded slightly, still not believing her on it. "So how does that work with the practical?"

 **"B** ecause the practical is application of the theory" He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, getting a little stressed off her reply. "Same time, next week?" He gave a slight nod.


	2. Chapter 2

The next time they were in potions class, Hermione had all her fingers crossed in her lap hoping he had studied the material. Draco sat at the back his head more in the book than with making a potion, and after a successful lesson of avoiding practical, he began packing up. Hermione, herself, kept her composure while passing him, despite being tempted to ask him how his lesson went

At the same time, the following week, Hermione showed up again, a few minutes early to secure a spot for them to study. Going to the classroom, she waved her wand for light. "How did you do in class last week?" She asked

He groaned slightly. "I actually… I avoided doing it" he admitted, his eyes dropped from Hermione's gaze

And Snape didn't take away points?" She blurted out before remembering

At the same time, the following week, Hermione showed up again, a few minutes early to secure a spot for them to study. Going to the classroom, she waved her wand for light. "How did you do in class last week?" She asked

He groaned slightly. "I actually… I avoided doing it" he admitted, his eyes dropped from Hermione's gaze  
And Snape didn't take away points?" She blurted out before remembering. [Draco and Hermione have an established/secret deal of potions tutoring - please continue as Draco.]

As he turned her question around in his mind for a moment, Draco rested his chin in the palm of his hand as he looked at Hermione. "Of course he didn't take away points," he reminded her with a small smirk.

Hermione shook her head, it wasn't even disappointing her after all this time. "Well, unfortunately, I don't know what you'll need to improve on, seeing as you didn't do it." Draco dropped his arm and leaned back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling and letting out a dramatic sigh.

"Then you must not be as good at potions as you think."

"How is it my fault you didn't practice so you could improve?" She knew he was trying to annoy her, but she was reaching the end of her patience.

"Because you're /supposed/ to know /everything/," he said, still looking at the ceiling. "What? The brilliant Hermione can't predict my scholarly habits before they happen? That's poor planning on your part." He finally sat back up to look at her, the smirk reappearing as he saw the annoyance in her face.

She walked a couple of steps away and sat down. "When you're ready to take this seriously, let me know."

Draco exhaled loudly and slowly through his nose before he got up from his seat. He needed to bring up his grade as quickly as possible; otherwise, his father would finally show Draco what he meant by "or else," from their conversation about failing potions. "Alright," he murmured as he sat across from Hermione. He pulled out his textbook, which looked like it had never been tried to hide a grin of satisfaction, as she moved to sit down next to him. "Have you started the essay?"

"Er- essay?" He asked with a confused look. "When did he assign an essay?" He asked again as he ran a hand across his face, trying to remember.

"You're joking right?" She pulled out 12 inches of rolled parchment. "You haven't started? It's due tomorrow!" Even though it wasn't her assignment or grade, her tone of voice was still shrill. "He assigned it last Monday." Draco cursed under his breath, remembering that that had been the class he chose to skip in order to hook up with some random Ravenclaw girl.

"Please tell me you know anything about the properties of alihotsy!"

"The leaves make people hysteric," he answered easily as he picked at the spine of his textbook.

She sighed in relief. "Okay, yes. They're primarily used for jubilation purposes…" she urged him to continue

Draco looked at her with an expression as though to say "what?"; his eyebrows were raised in annoyance and his shoulders were hunched over. "That's it. There's nothing special about it. It's used as a laughing potion for reasons I cannot comprehend."

Her mouth twitched into a smile, as if she had just had some potion herself. "You're right," she admitted. "It's quite a pointless ingredient to write about, however, he did want us to do it for some reason." She thought back to how she was chastising Draco not last week about blindly following orders, yet here they both were doing it.

"So, you're probably the only person that bothered to actually complete the assignment," he said as he rested his head in his palm again.

"Well it's good practice! You never know how simple or complex essay topics may be. In fact, as I do some practice OWL papers, I often find myself wondering if I'm being as encompassing as I need to be." Draco rolled his eyes and let his head fall onto his textbook. There was nothing more boring to him than talking about anything relating to school.

"So that's it? You're just…not going to do it?"

"Definitely not. It's just a waste of time," he said as he fished around in his trouser pocket for the money he owed her. The small burlap pouch contained ten galleons. He slid it across the table and got up to collect his things. She pocketed the money, knowing she didnt actually earn it. "S-Should we meet next week?"

Draco shrugged and shook his head half-heartedly. "I don't want to waste your time. I'll keep paying you until the semester is over. That's what we agreed upon and I know you've been saving it up."

She shook her head. "No need," she replied honestly. "I mean, I don't just want money that you're willing to hand out for no reason. Keep it."

"It's not for no reason," he countered, looking at her with his eyebrows pulled together. "We made a deal, and I'm just upholding it." He left before she could interject again.

She hung her head. Well, she thought, 'should that be the case, she would just not meet him to collect it.


End file.
